Days after ushering Big Fish into the iTunes store, opening the way to subscription gaming on the iPad, Apple has yanked out its app without a hint of explanation.

The application provided access to a monthly service allowing unlimited access to Big Fish games, and Apple even saw the press release prior launch, the company has told Bloomberg. Big Fish says it received a notification that the app had been removed, but is still trying to get some sort of explanation out of Cupertino.

One might imagine Apple would be pleased to get 30 per cent of the $6.99 monthly fee that gamers were expected to stump up for the service, but perhaps Cupertino has subscription games of its own planned and doesn't want Big Fish muddying the waters ahead of an Apple launch.

Whatever the reason, it’s the arrogance of Apple that annoys developers. The iPhone maker allowed Big Fish to research the market, develop the app and even discuss details of the expected uptake (Big Fish reports that Apple was initially dubious about its projections, but came round to the idea), but then, in a change of heart, the plug is pulled without as much as warning.

The iTunes application store does a reasonably good job of weeding out malware and the more obvious scams but at the price of ceding complete control to Apple. Apple's dominance means developers will put up with almost anything Cupertino does to them, in exchange for access to that market, but behaviour like this is verging on cruelty. ®